The Existential Modern Dystopia of Arcane and Squid Game | Hello Future Me

Regarding absolving ourselves of blame: Philosopher Mark Fisher wrote in 2009 in his book "Capitalist Realism" (recommended) that anti-capitalist works of entertainment are part of the self serving illusion of capitalism. We watch Squid Game criticise capitalism, agree, and think that's all the activism we need without leaving the couch. Media helps us entertain anticapitalist ideas in a safe way, without having to engage with the reality of it. After all, one of capitalism's biggest lies and biggest "strengths" is that it convinced the population that there is no alternative, that all other systems simply don't work. And it's not like we could change the world for the better ourselves any way, right?
Anyway, Fisher is relevant to this conversation and I highly recommend his stuff.

Will you be making another video talking about Arcane and its writing?

that's why I'm worried for the end of Arcane. the only way it would be a happy ending is if they dismantled the system, but I don't see the writers doing that, and be it due to LoL cooperate world building interest or whatever. Then again, a lot of french people on the production, so-

They don't have evidence of forced labour in XInjiang. They only have assessments of a 'high risk of forced labour in Xinjiang', whatever that means.

the stack of dominoes on the right grows

Arcane is like shimmer. U try it once cuz ur friend forced u to… and then u cant stop rewatching😂

As much as I want to care there's only so many things a single person can do. I can go as plastic free as I want, it doesn't change the fact that parts of my phone were shipped around the world like 50 times before it reached the local store. We all have to do what we can but it won't worth anything if we don't realize the problem is systematic and we need a massive change. There's way too much talk about greenwashing - we should know better now than trust companies. We were quick to forget how people in power had no issues poisoning us. We are quick to forget that they care about laws and public image but not morals. We are quick to forget that our officials knew about climate change back in the 50's. There are so many organizations out there paying lots of money to skilled people to make them look good.

And, at the end of the day, I'll still need a f*ing phone.

The chrono trigger music to top it off 👌😩

A dystopia is an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic. It doesn’t have to have a “big brother” though it is typical. That’s what people often fear. Some people think if they don’t have a totalitarian government it cannot be as bad, as much suffering or injustice but that is categorically false.

Protect me from knowing what I don't need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don't know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen.

Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer.

I noticed the domino's in the background, I just didn't know why they were there, only seeing them as different things part of the set...

this deserves way more views, probably tim’s best video

Modern Dystopias focus on spiritual emptiness, decadence of the higher classes, and hideously expanding class inequality. Basically all the problems of monarchy/caste/nobility system slowly creeping back onto us but this time we don't get to have nations, or gods to believe in or rally around. Neoliberalist promises being revealed to be a lie, as evil human societal habits reassert themselves, because those evils are a part of us. Meanwhile the people who are supposed to care about labor are shrieking about idpol and setting us up for inter ethnic conflict that some would actually welcome.

You know, even the bloopers of the falling dominoes had a deeper meaning. It shows that you won't always be able to stop them with your first try, but you can't give up

Fuck mate, this video was so bloody good! You’d be great to have beers with

I think the funniest part about your bloopers (also the most depressing) is that it could be seen as a demonstration of the point of Arcane: everyone is doing their damndest to stop the dominoes from falling, but a tiny flaw in their methods or understanding means the whole thing comes down anyways.

I did notice domino pieces. Go to hell. We live in the world we are given. So get your shit together, stop whining and achieve greatness if you want. Or perish in the way of others, that are more capable than you. Only the worthy can reap the glory.

You can't hit me with Chrono trigger sad music like that

Lol its silly but i felt so happy when you mentioned the dominos in the background, like a "i noticed them" thought, but only cos i was irritated that they didnt match up, you could of made them neater in the background i kept getting distracted by them lol. 😅

Amazing video. You articulated all of the themes that are actually in the book I am writing. I had vague ideas of the plot and character arcs, but this really helped.

something something capitalism

No we're there, we been there, we been there since the 80s.
We are living in a dystopia, what is new is we live in a cyberpunk dystopia.
Trust me where Jinx is at I and so many others are.
I have our own government who trying to legislate our own genocide yes I mean the American government which means I'm part of the LGBTQ community.
People are already dieing in the streets, mass shooting, school shooting, police states, income inequality, lack of health care.
Fact is you may think we're not there yet. Truth is, no we're here
It's just that it not effecting others
For them to see it, therefore they ignore it making themselves think "nah! It's not that bad" "it's not effecting me, so hey I'll just do what I always because I much rather believe. Everything is fine.
I have a good life and I don't want to feel guilty about it and thinking that other people suffer because of my choices. "
If you stop and actually think about it.
What is a dystopia?
Then actually pay attention to everything going on, add in the face wd already have cybernetic limbs, 3D printing, 3D printing of cells, Computers, internet, the amount of violence on the streets.
And me being old school I can remember a time where we could go to the market without worrying that some asshole with a gun coming in to shoot up the place.
Or government leaning in more into fascism at worst, or do noting at best. Maybe throw in some small things that don't really make much of a difference but gives the illusion they're doing something.
Wearing face mask lol no we're here we live in a cyberpunk world already all we need is just the clothes and the Mega buildings 😊
If anything we are at lest at the beginning of a cyberpunk world I'm sure it can get much worse.
And the future technologies to come😊 we are already living in a dystopia. And that's just with America not even getting to the rest of the world and the wars and genocide going on in other countries. Lol

I really don't think paper straws and paying carbon offsets are a positive thing actually. I'm pretty sure they're a net negative. Sort of a form of virtue signaling. They let people feel they're doing more good than they actually are. The carbon offsets especially I mean that's a laughable concept. If anything I imagine these things would only increase pollution

It’s simple. Bad weather means we need more communism.

this was a really awesome vidoe, i have nothing to add and i normally dont comment but i really enjoyed this one

I saw the dominos.

(Essay incoming)
I DID notice the dominos. I only noticed about halfway through the video that they were changing positions. By the time I noticed the dominos, there were like 12 of them onscreen. Then I saw there were more of them and I knew there would be a point to it.
I'm in my early 20's. I grew up with the rise of YA dystopian fiction at a time when I was not politically conscious at all. I didn't know what was going on in the world. Telling me to eat my veggies because "there are starving children in Africa" had no sway on me and my biggest social concern was why anti-bullying campaigns had no effect whatsoever. I think reading those books at that age had pros and cons for my generation. On the one hand, we're primed to spot corruption and dysfunction in the government. But we're so used to the happy ending where one special teen almost single-handedly fixes the world that we get overwhelmed when we can't single-handedly do the same.
It isn't enough to notice the dominos and stop setting them up. The time for that passed before a lot of us were born. And running around individually, scrambling to stop domino chains from falling is a recipe for failure and burnout. The only shot we have now is working together. That's seen in both the shows you mentioned. When the characters in Squid Game work together, they are able to progress and survive the games. But when they start turning on each other and focusing on individual success, they start dying. Likewise in Arcane, the greatest tragedy is arguably the lack of communication overall. Vi and Jayce both try to play hero and ultimately fail because they're just two people against a system that's been around long before either of them were born.

Calling arcane and runeterras world a dystopia shows zero logical skills or ability to understand nuonce

I'm working on a sci-fi audio drama, that takes place BEFORE things go full cyber-punk. What I've found so hard, is figuring out how to manage all the things you've mentioned. This has given me an entire new pov on this. Thank you.

Coming back to this video after it was found that it was US made ammunition that the IOF dropped on a tent in Rafah killing 45, starting a fire and injuring hundreds.

Its not the first time something like this has happened, the US has been directly responsible for many attrocities but until now it just felt like history. The 2nd battle of Fallujah happened when I was barely 1.

This video is thematically confused and reeks of cope

👍

The whole video, I had wondered why you have random dominoes in the back 😄

Our dystopias give a very chilling message, on a community level, If it's not seen, it cannot be named and what cannot be named does not exist and on a personal level it says Unless you do stop to think, you will choose wrong

On another note, my one complaint with Squid Games is that when the rich guys arrive to see the final games you give a face to the evil guys and it brings down the moral nuance of the situation. We know next to nothing about them but the games are a microcosm of the real world and we know the Foreman and his, for lack of a better word, "henchmen" are putting them in mortal danger out of a distorted sense of justice and equality. We can see how they may have been idealist who just got tired and they made this games to both punish this scummy people while making something "good" in their viewpoint. Even that brutal unaliving of those three, you can see the warped idealism that went to far, yet they see themselves on the side of good.

Damn, that visual metaphor was powerful. I did saw some dominoes but, because i did not understood what they meant I just didn't mind them. Excellent execution.

Excellent & profound❤ to quote yet another anti capitalist masterpiece, Parasite : She's not nice even though she's rich, she's nice bcs she's rich ". Rich ppl don't do it directly, we do it to ourselves in their name, thinking that it's good for us. We want to be them. We fight each other in oder to become the people upstairs. (like in SG or Parasite). Capitalism doesn't have an iron hand, it has a silk glove, nobody is directly responsible or bad. Most things are transparent, but we're numb about what we see, we say we can't change it & simply don't care.

Former submissive fury

Sir, if believing Die Hard is in fact a Christmas movie equals ignorance....Ignorance is bliss.

Good, better, best

This is why I try to make my own clothes and repair loved pieces. I don't think the people making the fabric have the best conditions but it takes one step of the process away from them

I NOTICED! I feel special.

Not gonne lie I was distracted by the dominos in the background the whole video wondering why they were there😂

Dude, Alex, that intro was stellar.

I think there are a lot of good points here, but I see the sentiment a lot that skipping the plastic straws and bags is useless, and I'd say its one of the best weapons we have against exploitative globalist economics ventures. No longer being ignorant starts with denying yourself these small convenciences. Every straw you don't buy is a reason less to build a new exploitative straw factory. And once you've learned to deal with for example the social backlash you'll get from not using convenience items, you're ready to move on to more impactful stuff, like skipping vacation getaways or maybe not owning a car.